


i got the long haired hot head, she got the cool and steady hand

by inlovewithimpossibility



Series: Snapshots [13]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-11 03:11:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15963464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inlovewithimpossibility/pseuds/inlovewithimpossibility
Summary: A missing moment from early season four, a team dinner at the loft makes Laurel notice the difference between Ollie, the boy who held her heart, and Oliver, the man who is looking towards forever with his blonde geniusInspired by Jana Kramer's 'I Got the Boy'





	i got the long haired hot head, she got the cool and steady hand

This team dinner at the loft seems like the strangest thing Laurel’s ever done. Which is a statement seeing as they apparently now live in a world that includes sisters coming back from the dead and actual _magicians?_

But Felicity had been right when she extended the invitation to them all, life has been crazy recently and it might be nice to just spend some time together whilst they have it. They can’t do anything about Darhk at the moment so they might as well enjoy each other’s company.

Doesn’t mean that stepping into the apartment of her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend will be any easier.

Laurel doesn’t love Oliver in that way anymore. He’s her first _everything,_ first kiss, first time, first long term relationship, no matter how many lies were told between them, and he’ll always hold a special place in her heart but no, she’s not _in_ love with him anymore.

Felicity opens the door with a wide grin, welcoming her inside. She’s the first one there which makes sense. Thea tends to be as late as her brother and she knows John promised he’d be there _after_ he swung by his house to pick up Sara seeing as Lyla has the night shift.

The loft looks a lot different from when Laurel had been there when Thea lived there. There’s actual furniture in it for starters but there’s something else there which Laurel never would have associated with Oliver. There’s obvious love in this place, a throw over the back of the couch and decorated throw pillows which Laurel can only guess they picked up on their travels based on the patterns on them.

“Can I get you a drink? Obviously not like a _drink_ drink but we have Coke or lemonade or Oliver made this like berry juice thing…” Felicity trails off and Laurel chuckles. It’s kind of impossible to not like Felicity, she’s just so utterly endearing and loving that it rubs off on the people around her.

“Just some water would be lovely.” Laurel tells her and Felicity nods with a shy smile, heading towards the kitchen where Oliver is cooking. He’s facing the stove, having said hello when Laurel first entered before turning back to his task.

Laurel takes the opportunity whilst Felicity is distracted to nose a little. some old habits die hard and Laurel can’t help taking a look at the pictures on the wall and mantle. There are a few old ones of Oliver, Thea and the Queens that Laurel recognises as well as some of what is obviously a young Felicity with her mother, all brunette pigtails, round glasses and smiles with no front teeth. There’s also plenty of pictures from their travels, ridiculously big smiles on their faces at spots all around the world.

One in particular catches Laurel’s eye. They’re stood on a pier somewhere, the sun setting behind them and Felicity is sat on the railing with Oliver stood in front of her. His arms are either side of her, making sure that she won’t fall and they’re gazing at each other with such intensity that Laurel can’t look away from the picture. Felicity’s smiling widely but Oliver’s is more subdued, that soft smile that he only seems to get around Felicity painted onto his face and the soft look in his eyes speaks a thousand words.

“Oh I love that picture.” Felicity’s voice startles her a little and Laurel turns with a guilty look on her face to see Felicity smiling, holding a glass of water.

“Thanks for the drink. It’s a gorgeous picture.” Laurel comments as she turns back to face it.

“That was in the Seychelles. Ugh there’s this _gorgeous_ restaurant like fifty feet from the pier. They do the most amazing scallops. Like best in the world. If I could eat only one food for the rest of my life, it would be those scallops.” Felicity rambles and Laurel smiles, chuckling a little as Felicity has her usual effect. The doorbell rings and the blonde excuses herself, opening the door to reveal Thea.

Laurel settles on the couch as Thea moves to the kitchen to greet her brother and the lawyer hums a little to herself as she settles into the cushions. This is the sort of place she’d imagined getting with Oliver back when they were thinking of moving in together. Well, when she was thinking of moving in together. Looking back on it, she realises that he never really seemed particularly thrilled about the idea.

Laurel turns to watch the scene in the apartment, rolling her eyes with fondness as she watches Felicity try to stir the pot. The blonde lets out a small squeal as Oliver immediately catches her wrist, pulling her in close to his body and kissing her softly.

“Leave my pot alone. I want these poor people to eat tonight.” He comments teasingly and Felicity pouts, her big blue eyes widening. Thea pretends to puke but she smiles as she pours herself a glass of wine before coming to sit next to Laurel on the couch.

“Watch this.” Thea grins and Laurel raises an eyebrow but turns back to the couple who seem to be stuck in their own bubble, Felicity on her toes as she softly presses her lips to her boyfriend’s.

“I want to help.” The blonde pouts and Oliver chuckles, brushing her short blonde curls away from her face.

“You can help by staying far away from my cooking.” Oliver quips and Felicity’s bottom lip pops out as she drops her heels down to the floor.

“You don’t like my cooking?” She asks and Oliver chuckles, quickly and easily lifting her up to sit on the counter as far away from the stove as he can put her.

“Felicity, I love everything about you. I just want our guests to consume something edible.” He comments and their faces are so close that their noses are touching. They’re completely in their own world and Laurel wonders if Oliver _ever_ looked at her like that. She thinks that he probably did, once upon a time, but there was never the promise of forever that just radiates off of the two of them.

“Gross, right?” Thea comments and Laurel chuckles, turning back to her friend.

“It’s sweet.” She replies and Thea pulls a face.

“Disgustingly sweet. I’m glad Ollie’s happy, don’t get me wrong, and I _adore_ Felicity but all of this just makes me miss…” She trails off and Laurel smiles, wrapping an arm around Thea and allowing the younger girl to drop her head on her shoulder.

“It’s okay to miss him.” Laurel tells her honestly and Thea takes a deep breath.

“I just wonder if I’ll ever have what they do, you know? They’re it for each other, that’s obvious.” Thea sighs and Laurel smiles, kissing the top of Thea’s hair.

“I know.” She replies, not feeling confident to give any other answer.

The doorbell sounds again and Laurel looks over to see Oliver carefully lifting Felicity down from the counter even though it’s not that high at all. That’s something she’s noticed as well recently, how gentle Oliver is with Felicity. He treats her as if she’s made of porcelain and the smallest scratch on her pale skin can drive him crazy in a way that he never had with her. Geez, she remembers when Oliver didn’t even notice when she broke her leg. Granted, they were fifteen at the time but still.

Felicity opens the door and immediately squeals, reaching out for the baby in Dig’s arms immediately.

“Oh hi little one, come here. Oh hello, I have missed you.” She coos, taking the baby into her arms happily, bouncing her as Sara giggles happily, her little hands reaching for Felicity’s curls.

“’city, pwetty.” The baby babbles and Felicity lights up, lifting her up to kiss her all over her precious little head which just makes Sara squeal with delight. It’s an adorable scene and Oliver seems to think so too when Laurel looks towards him. There’s this look in his eyes that Laurel immediately recognises as longing. He wants this with Felicity, the amazing apartment, a marriage, a family. She’s his forever.

“Hi John.” Thea greets and John laughs, moving into the apartment and closing the door behind him.

“Sorry, hi.” Felicity giggles, adjusting Sara so that she’s sat on her hip. Sara settles happily in her godmother’s arms, her little head resting on Felicity’s shoulder and the blonde smiles widely.

“It’s fine Felicity, if anyone can appreciate how adorable my daughter is, it’s me. I’ll gladly be chopped liver next to her any day.” John smiles and they all chuckle.

After dinner, they all settle in the living room and Sara falls asleep happily against John’s chest, protected by her daddy’s arm around her. Thea has claimed the other half of the couch and Laurel slinks happily into one of the armchairs, leaving Felicity and Oliver to argue over the other.

Laurel expects Oliver to be the gentleman he’s grown into and give Felicity the chair, slumping onto the floor himself. What she doesn’t expect is for him to flop into the seat before reaching over and banding one arm under Felicity’s back and one under her knees. She lets out a squeal as she’s lifted into the air and ends up on his lap with a “c’mere you” from Oliver.

Oliver was never into public displays of affection when they were together, holding hands and making out in the back seat was about as far as he ever let it go. He’d drop her hand whenever his mother or Thea came near. So to see him so comfortable in front of his sister and their friends with his girlfriend curled up in his lap is a little off putting to Laurel.

Despite their kind of disastrous breakup and the infidelity, Laurel does have really happy memories of her time with Oliver. Oliver was her first everything and she can’t begrudge her time spent with him. However, she knows that she had a relationship with Ollie, Felicity is the only one who’s really had a relationship with _Oliver._

This never would have happened with Ollie, an evening spent in with his girlfriend, sister, their friends and their friend’s daughter would have been the last idea on Ollie’s list of Friday night activities. The surfer haircut is a thing of the past and he spends his days in suits and ties rather than the cargo pants Ollie favoured in his youth. He had a fake I.D. at 16 and he and Tommy snuck into every bar in the city. His idea of a date was taking Laurel out on his motorbike and showing off, Laurel can still feel the adrenaline hitting the bottom of her stomach. He gave Laurel his class ring which is a far cry from the delicate arrow bracelet that hangs around Felicity’s wrist and has since they came back from their trip.

She knows that Felicity can get a little insecure about Laurel but Laurel knows that she has nothing to worry about. The way that Oliver looks at Felicity is nothing like the way he used to look at her. He’s so careful with her, both her body and her heart. He wants this to last whereas the future always scared Oliver when he was with Laurel.

A lot of people think that Oliver grew due to his time on the island but Laurel knows, as much as that is true, he’s also grown a lot since meeting Felicity. Laurel dated Ollie, the boy, and now watching the blissful look on Oliver’s face as he cuddles close to his girlfriend, Laurel knows that Felicity has Oliver, the man.


End file.
